The Cat and The Canary~OC x Daniela Dimitrescu

Chapter 1

The night I was both rescued and employed, thunder was rumbling in the clouds overhead, the forest around the traveling freakshow I was a part of pitch black, though my eyes pierced through the shadows easily. As icy rain began pouring down in torrents, my fingers softly stroked the silky fur of one of my cat companions, Shadow, both of us huddled together with the other five cats I called friends, none of us too fond of the loud crashes of thunder outside, my sensitive hearing nearly causing me to go deaf, agony flooding through my head, and I groaned. There was nothing I could do to stop the pain though, considering I was chained up tightly inside my cage, the winter air slicing into my bones through the bars, and if I asked for anything, the man who ran the freakshow would beat me senseless until I learned my place again.

That man was the only person I knew, aside from the other beasts and people inside the other cages, and the people who came to the show were never kind, always throwing things at us, poking us with sticks, and they had even been taking my cats from me, thinking it was funny. It was all I knew for my entire eighteen years of life, and I had no idea who my parents had been, or if I had a life before the freakshow. I guessed I'd been born there though, considering the first thing I could ever remember was the feel of cold steel around my arms, legs, and throat. There had never been any kind words, or loving embraces, or at least none I could think of, only darkness and pain.

I was broken out of my thoughts as I heard the faintest of footsteps, the sound hard to hear over the rain, but still loud enough, and my head snapped up quickly, my eyes landing on a woman I recognized. She'd been at the final show of the night, and now that I thought about it, she actually hadn't been laughing or throwing things like the others. She'd just been watching me the whole time with a weird expression on her face, kind of like the one she was showing at the moment. "Do you wish to leave this prison?" I blinked, confused by the question. "Excuse me?" She sighed, glancing around, clearly afraid of being caught, and replied, "This horrible place. Would you like to leave it?"

Leave? I was surprised by the word. Never, not once in my life, had I ever thought that leaving was possible, and even if I did leave, where would I go? I had no family, no friends, and definitely couldn't fit in with normal people, especially not with the full moon coming around every month. Now this strange woman was asking if I wanted to leave- There had to be more to it. She must want something in return. "Why are you asking me that? What do you want?" A sad look crossed her face, something like fear in her eyes, and she replied, "Because I want to help you. And in return, you will help me. The Mistress I work for will only allow me to return to my family if I find a Maiden to replace me. It is dangerous, and tiring work, but you would have a place to stay, and a warm bed, and free meals." My eyes widened, and I gripped the bars of my cage tightly, a bit excited. "I don't care about working hard for some woman- That place sounds like paradise to me."

At my words, a bitter laugh escaped her lips, as if she knew something I didn't, or I'd said something hilarious. She somehow got the cage door open quickly, then took the chains off of me, flinching as she saw the raw skin under them, blood oozing from the wounds, wrapping bandages around the wounds. "It won't do to have you bleed when meeting the Mistress. Trust me, bleeding near her or the monsters she calls her daughters is not a wise decision." I raised an eyebrow, but chose not to question it, gently putting my cats into the small bag they slept in, making sure the top was open enough for them to stick their heads out and get enough air, then frowned, as the woman practically dragged me through the forest, the sounds of low growls and unknown things all around us. Even with my special eyesight, I still couldn't see what made those noises, but they sounded big.

She shivered in the cold air, but I wasn't too bothered by it, even as the rain made my torn and filthy clothes stick to my skin, revealing pretty much everything. I had learned to not feel shame at being seen naked, or close to being naked, after so many years of having to show myself to so many people outside of my cage day after day, and night after night. I had never really been bothered the cold, probably because I was a "freak", and my temperature ran higher than normal people's did, keeping me warm in the colder months, though it was very annoying when summer rolled around. We kept walking for what must have been miles, her breaths getting a bit shorter, and she looked at me in confusion. "How on Earth are you not out of breath?" I shrugged, not really wanting to explain anything to her, knowing she would probably run off and tell someone, and I'd end up in a cage again, or worse, I'd be slaughtered for what I was, being different from other people.

By the time we reached the gates of a giant castle, the woman was nearly falling to her knees with exhaustion, but she shoved me inside with surprising strength, my eyes widening as I saw the interior of the place. Someone wealthy had to live there, with all the beautiful paintings and shiny gold objects I saw scattered around, candlelight glinting off of them. I covered my nose with my hand, as the coppery scent of blood came towards us, my stomach rumbling with hunger, and it seemed like whoever smelled like blood had tried to hide it, the scent of vanilla, wine, and roses barely covering it. Within moments, a very tall woman appeared, a giant hat on her head, gloves covering her hands, and her golden eyes seemed to narrow at the sight of me, much like the man who raised me, but I ignored the fear twisting inside of me, and put on the blank expression I wore during the shows, gazing back up at her. "You're really tall.. I've never seen someone like you before."

Her eyes widened slightly, probably at my bluntness, and muttered, "My, my. It seems as if you have no manners. We shall correct that in due time." I had to force myself not to flinch as one of her hands gripped my jaw tightly, turning my head from side to side. "Your eyes are quite.. Alluring. I have never seen a hue of radiant blue such as that in a human's eyes before. And your scent is intoxicating.. Almost primal. Strong jaw, perfect nose, prominent cheekbones, and a muscular structure that is a bit unusual for a young lady- You are unlike any human I have seen before, though I suppose I rarely see any aside from my maidens and the few caretakers here and there. I shall show you to the maid's quarters, and mind that you pay attention, for I will not show you the way again, and getting lost within these walls isn't pleasant." A smile tugged at her lips at that, and then her eyes landed on my back. "Those creatures are not permitted within these walls."

I blinked, realizing she was talking about my cats, and felt fear clench my heart as she reached for my bag, and I let the mask slip a little, moving with blinding speed, stopping her hand from moving any closer, Shadow mewing in fear from inside the bag, and I felt her muscles tense, as if she were using her full strength to move my hand away from her arm, but I could see her surprise as I didn't budge an inch. "No. They stay with me.." She pulled her arm away, and went dead silent, an unreadable expression on her face, and then she silently turned, and walked away. I followed her, and soon enough found myself in a small room, feeling confused. "With such strength, I feel it is better that you stay alone. I cannot afford to replace many maidens, should you injure them in your sleep. You will start work first thing in the morning, and I expect you to be bathed and in clean clothes before then." With that, she left the room, and closed the door behind her. Bathe? I looked around for the hose the man used to bathe us in the cages, but couldn't find one, instead finding a door to a shiny room with strange things inside of it, clean clothes laying on some kind of table.

I let Shadow and the others out of the bag, then began struggling for what felt like hours to figure out the weird devices, eventually realizing one was meant to bathe in, and the other to do unsanitary things in, which was very different from the bucket we had used. As soon as I climbed into the warm water, I never wanted to get out, but knew that I didn't have time to enjoy it too much. I was too exhausted, and by the time I dressed in the strange clothing that seemed fit for a man instead of a woman, likely due to my muscular stature or whatever, I was almost passing out. I barely made it to the bed before I was out cold, the soft pillows and firm mattress better than I ever could have imagined. It occurred to me that I never caught the tall woman's name, but decided I could ask in the morning, as I began drifting into the realm of dreams..